Single-shot gun with laterally swinging breechblock



1964 w. B. RUGER ETAL 3,142,924

BYW, MM 7711M, MM

A OR

TT N EYS Aug- 4, 6 w. B. RUGER ETAL 3,

SINGLE-SHOT WITH LATERALLY SWINGING BREECHBLOCK Filed June 18, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 6

ii F

FIG. 7

I NVEN TORS WILLIAM B. RUGER HARRY H. SEFRIED III ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,142,924 SlNGLE-SHUT GUN WTTH LATERALLY WTNGTNG BREECHBLQCK William B. Ruger and Harry H. efried l1, Southport, Coma, assign-airs to Sturm, Ruger and Company, Inc.,

Southport, Conn, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Tune 1-8, 1962, Ser. No. 293,033 Ciaims. (Cl. 42-32) This invention relates to firearms and has for its object the provision of an improved gun of the type having a cartridge chamber in the barrel and a frame having a pivoted breechblock mounted in the frame. The breechblock has a firing pin therein and is pivotally mounted in the frame on a shaft or rod below and parallel to the barrel so that the upper part of the breechblock can be swung to one side for loading and extracting the empty cartridge case.

The improved gun of the invention comprises a frame to which the barrel and grip member or stock are attached and which preferably provides means for mounting and operating therein a hammer and a trigger and its associated elements. The breechblock preferably has a recess along one side which, when the breechblock is swung to the open position, aligns with the barrel chamber to facilitate loading and unloading, and minimizes the amount of turning for this purpose.

The frame is preferably constructed to have a base for a rear sight and means for securing thereto a hand grip when the gun is adapted as a pistol, or a shoulder stock when the gun is adapted as a rifle or shotgun. Merely for the convenience of illustration the gun will be illustrated and described in the embodiment of a pistol advantageously for use with high pressure and high velocity rimmed cartridges. Since the cartridge chamber is in the barrel it is possible to contain the stress of high pres sure cartridges.

The gun of the invention has a number of features which contribute to its facility of operation and safe use. The breechblock and frame have coinciding recesses (when the breechblock is closed) which overlie the firing pin, and the hammer has a striker head which can clear these recesses and strike the firing pin only when the breechblock is fully closed. The breechblock, trigger and hammer cooperate mechanically with each other as completely described hereinafter, to provide a firearm which may be carried safely with a loaded cartridge in the chamber and which may also be reloaded under conditions of maximum safety. Because of the peculiar interaction of the hammer, trigger and breechblock, the hammer can be brought to full cock position only when the breechblock is closed. Conversely, the breechblock cannot be opened when the hammer is at full cock. The hammer is preferably but not necessarily of the rebounding variety; in its rebounded position, and only in this position, the breech may be opened and closed for reloading. When the breech is open, the hammer is locked in its rebounded position and cannot be manipulated in any way. The rebound of the hammer is achieved by particularly efiicient and economical means which immediately and automatically retract the hammer after firing to the rebounded or neutral position where the breechblock may be opened. To insure that the breechblock will be kept securely in its closed or firing position when the hammer is in the rebound position, a supplementary manually operated latch is also provided.

These and other novel features of the invention will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of a gun of the invention with the hammer shown at the instant of striking the firing pin, before rebounding.

3,142,924 Patented Aug. 4, 1964 "ice FIG. 2 is a sectional view at 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view at 3-3 of FIG. 1 with the breechblock in firing position;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 with the breechblock in open position for loading or cartridge extraction;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view at 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation, with parts in section, of the gun of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged view, partly in section, taken at 77 of FIG. 2.

The gun of the invention is. described and illustrated for convenience and to avoid repetition as a pistol, in an advantageous embodiment, as a pistol resembling and having the general features of the Ruger single action revolvers.

The improved pistol of the invention illustrated comprises a frame 1 which is a unitary element having a central rectangular opening 2, a more or less flat top 3 on which a sight 4 is mounted, an upright front portion 5 into which the barrel 6 is threaded, an under portion 7 to which the trigger guard 8 is attached and a rear upright portion 9 in which the hammer 10 is mounted. The grip member 12 is secured to the frame part 9 and joins or is integral with the trigger guard 8. The grip member has covering grip plates 13, and the grip member may be replaced with a shoulder stock and a long barrel used to convert the pistol into a rifle.

The breechblock 15 is pivotally mounted in the frame 1 on the pin or rod 16 which is inserted into a hole 17 in the frame part 9 and is slidably secured in a hole 18 in the front part 5 by the cross-pin 19. By removing the cross-pin, the rod 16 can be removed and the breechblock can then be pushed sideways from the frame.

The barrel has a cartridge chamber 20 which receives the cartridge C. The breechblock has a shallow recess 21 in the rearward face having a peripheral edge with satellite arcuate recesses 22 and 23 (FIGS. 1 and 2). These satellite recesses are formed by conical bore holes 24 and 25 in the face of the breechblock for the engagement of the conical head 26 of the detent 27 which is a stop locator (FIG. 1). This locator is slidably mounted in a bushing 28 in the frame and is pushed forward by the action of the coil spring 29 which bears on one end against the stop locator and at its other end (not shown) in the bushing 28 to hold the breechblock yieldably in one of its two positions.

The recess 21 is formed so as to provide an abutment 30 which engages the upper or sear part 31 of the trigger 32 to prevent the breechblock from being turned when the trigger part 31 is in the position of FIG. 6 and the hammer is in the cocked position.

The breechblock 15 has a sloped opening 35 in which the firing pin 36 is slidably mounted. The firing pin has a head 37 providing a base for the rebound spring 38 which holds the firing pin away from the cartridge primer. The firing pin is held in place by reason of the fact that the head bears against the frame portion 9 in both positions of the breechblock and can only be inserted into the breechblock or removed when the pin 16 is removed and the breechblock is pushed out of the frame.

The breechblock has a rectangular slot 40 which overlies the firing pin head 37 and in which the rectangular striker 41 of the hammer makes a fairly close fit whereby the hammer striker cannot strike the firing pin unless the breechblock is in the firing position. This feature of the slot 49 and striker head 41 supplements the trigger sear part 31 in preventing accidental ignition of a cartridge when the breechblock is not in proper position.

The front side of the breechblock as viewed in FIGS. 1, 2 and 7 has a longitudinal curved projection 42 which forms a housing for the latch 43. The latch is hollow and cylindrical and comprises a projecting knob or thumb rest 44 having concentric grooves 45 which is mounted in the cylindrical bore 46 in the housing. A coil spring 47 is mounted in the hollow center of the latch and since one end bears against the housing and the other end against the inside of the latch, the latch is normally urged towards the rear of the breechblock. The projecting end or knob 44 enters a recess 48 in the frame part 9 to hold the breechblock in its firing position. By pushing this knob into the housing and out of the recess 48, the breechblock is freed to be turned. This latch 43 provides positive locking of the breechblock at the time the hammer is in the rebound position.

The rear side of the breechblock as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 6' and as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and'4 has a longitudinal, preferably curved, recess 49 which, when the breechblock is moved to the loading position of FIG. 4, is in line with the chamber 20. This recess not only facilitates loading but it reduces the amount of movement otherwise necessary to open and close the chamber 20.

The cartridge extractor 50 as best shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and comprises a rod 51 mounted at the rear in a bore hole 52 in the frame and in the tubular housing or guard 53 one end of which is inserted into an annular cut 54 inthe frame and the other end is secured to the barrel by the screw 55. The extractor has a lateral cartridge case extracting arm 56 which fits into a recess 57 in the frame for the clearance of the breechblock. The housing has an elongated slot 58 for the projecting knob 59 by means of which the extractor is pushed rearward as shown in broken lines in FIG. 5 to extract the cartridge case C. Onreleasing the knob, the coil spring 60 returns the extractor to the position shown in full lines in FIG. 5.

As best shown in FIG. 6, the hammer is pivotally mounted on pin or screw 65 in the frame and can be held in the full cock position by sear 31 engaging the full cock notch 33. The hammer also has a rebound notch 68 which is considerably deeper than the full cock notch 33. The dotted lines represent the position of the hammer in its rebound position. It can also be seen from FIG. 6 that when the hammer lies in its rebound position, the sear end 31 of the trigger 32 will engage notch 68 under the influence of trigger spring 66. Because of the con siderable diiference in the depths of notches 33 and 68, the sear end of the trigger 31 must enter the breechblock recess 21 when the hammer is at full cock, but will be clear of recess 21 when the hammer is in its rebound position. When sear 31 is engaged with notch 68, it also serves as a block which prevents the hammer from rotating forward to a point where it could contact firing pin 37.

It will also be seen that when sear 31 is engaged in notch 68, the sear will be clear of recess 21 and that upon disengaging latch 43 from recess 48, the breechblock will be free to be manually rotated to the position shown in FIG. 4. With the breechblock in this open position, abutment 30 will have passed in front of sear 31, thus locking sear 31 into notch 68. It is this locked engagement which prevents the hammer from being moved when the breechblock is open. From FIG. 6 it can also be seen that with the hammer at full cock (the breechblock being closed), it is impossible for the breechblock to open because sear 31 mounts abutment 30.

The hammer has two semi-cylindrical notches 69 and 70 having a critical spaced relationship with respect to the axis of the pin 65. The hammer is driven by a strut 71 one end of which is slidably mounted in the grip member frame on plate 72. The coil spring 73 bears at one end on the shoulder 74 on the strut and on the other end on plate 72 which straddles the lugs 76 on the grip member.

The strut has two projecting knobs 77 and 78 having cylindrical bearing surfaces which engage the notches 69 and 70 respectively. When the hammer is in the cocked position. of FIG. 6, the knob 78 is in bearing engagement with the notch 70 and accordingly urges the hammer forward against the sear 31. When the hammer is released, and swings to the striking position the knob 77 enters the notch 69 just in advance of the actual contact with the firing pin. Although this contact opposes the driving action of the knob 78, the momentum of the hammer carries it to the striking position. The hammer accordingly rebounds a short distance and is held in the stable position shown in broken lines by reason of the fact that both knobs 77 and 78 are in their respective notches holding the hammer in a state of balanced equilibrium with the striking head 41 withdrawn from the notch 40 in the breechblock and the hammer accordingly does not hold the breechblock against turning.

At this rebound position of the hammer, and assuming that the shooter has released the trigger, the sear 31 is also clear of the breechblock, as previously explained and accordingly the gun is conveniently reloaded after firing, it being necessary only to disengage latch 43 in order to rotate the breechblock to its open position.

The use of a rebounding hammer as described in this construction is advantageous, but not necessary. If a non-rebounding hammer were to be used, it would have to be drawn back manually after each shot to engage notch 68 before the breechblock could be rotated to its open position because the breechblock cannot be rotated unless the striker 41 of the hammer is clear of the slot 40, and the sear 31 is retracted from recess 21 and engaged with safety notch 68 in the hammer. Notch 68 would also have to be modified to the traditional form of a safety notch together with the corresponding modification of the trigger which would avoid the possibility of the trigger being inadvertently pulled. It is clear that the use of a rebounding hammer is accordingly more convenient and adds to the safety of the gun When it is carried loaded.

That which is claimed is:

1. In a gun having a frame, a barrel secured to the frame having a cartridge chamber therein, a breechblock mounted on a pin having its axis parallel to and below the bore of the barrel, a firing pin in the breechblock, a hammer mounted in the frame having a striker head which can extend through the frame to contact the firing pin, the improvement which comprises a recess in the rearward part of the breechblock, a trigger having a sear part for engaging a notch in the hammer, which sear part can also engage the recess in the breechblock whereby the trigger cannot be pulled to release the hammer unless the breechblock is fully closed and in firing position in which position the sear portion can enter the recess.

2. An improved gun as defined in claim 1 which comprises a strut for driving the hammer, said strut having means for retracting the hammer from its striking position to permit turning the breechblock.

3. In a gun having a frame, a barrel secured to the frame having a cartridge chamber therein, a breechblock mounted on a pin having its axis parallel to and below the bore of the barrel, a firing pin in the breechblock, a hammer mounted in the frame having a striker head which can extend through the frame to contact the firing pin, the improvement which comprises a slot in the breechblock overlying the firing pin, a slot in the frame which overlies the slot in the breechblock when the breechblock is closed, a striker head on the hammer which can enter both slots to engage the firing pin, the hammer having a driving strut, said strut having means for removing the striker head from the slot in the breechblock after firing, a recess in the rearward part of the breechblock, a trigger having a sear part which can engage a notch in the hammer and enter the recess in the breechblock and release the hammer only when the breechblock is closed whereby, after firing, the sear part does not engage the recess in the rearward part of the breechblock and the striker head does not engage the slot in the breechblock so that the breechblock can be swung open.

4. In a gun having a frame, a barrel secured to the frame having a cartridge chamber therein, a breechblock mounted on a pin having its axis parallel to and below the bore of the barrel, a firing pin in the breechblock, a hammer mounted in the frame having a striker head which can extend through the frame to contact the firing pin, the improvement which comprises a housing integral with one side of the breechblock, a recess in the frame, a latch in the housing which engages the recess in the frame to lock the breechblock in its closed position, and manually operable means on the latch to release it from the recess to open the breechblock.

5. In a gun having a frame, a barrel secured to the frame having a cartridge chamber therein, a breechblock mounted on a pin having its axis parallel to and below the bore of the barrel, a firing pin in the breechblock, a hammer mounted in the frame having a striker head which can extend through the frame to contact the firing pin, the improvement which comprises a trigger having a sear part, a recess in the rearward part of the breechblock into which the sear part can enter to prevent turning the breechblock to its open position, a scar notch in the hammer for holding the hammer at full cock, said sear part being movable into the recess only when the breechblock is closed whereby the hammer can only be fully cocked and released by the sear part when the breechblock is fully closed, said hammer having a second notch which is engaged by the sear part to hold the hammer in a safe position, said second notch, recess and sear part being constructed and arranged to permit the sear part to enter the second notch suificiently to be removed from the recess whereby the breechblock can be opened when the hammer is in the safe position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 42,573 Goulding May 3, 1864 69,941 Snider Oct. 15, 1867 84,938 Cooper Dec. 15, 1868 413,734 Roper Oct. 29, 1889 1,411,800 Molloy Apr. 4, 1922 

1. IN A GUN HAVING A FRAME, A BARREL SECURED TO THE FRAME HAVING A CARTRIDGE CHAMBER THEREIN, A BREECHBLOCK MOUNTED ON A PIN HAVING ITS AXIS PARALLEL TO AND BELOW THE BORE OF THE BARREL, A FIRING PIN IN THE BREECHBLOCK, A HAMMER MOUNTED IN THE FRAME HAVING A STRIKER HEAD WHICH CAN EXTEND THROUGH THE FRAME TO CONTACT THE FIRING PIN, THE IMPROVEMENT WHICH COMPRISES A RECESS IN THE REARWARD PART OF THE BREECHBLOCK, A TRIGGER HAVING A SEAR PART FOR ENGAGING A NOTCH IN THE HAMMER, WHICH SEAR PART CAN ALSO ENGAGE THE RECESS IN THE BREECHBLOCK WHEREBY THE TRIGGER CANNOT BE PULLED TO RELEASE THE HAMMER UNLESS THE BREECHBLOCK IS FULLY CLOSED AND IN FIRING POSITION IN WHICH POSITION THE SEAR PORTION CAN ENTER THE RECESS. 